If a case is too complicated or cannot be addressed in the local clinics, the patient is referred to the hospital. This can involve substantial travel and accommodation costs which many patients are unable to afford.
Transportation Delays
Often, treatment in the province is delayed because of the time required to get the patients to Oobunta Hospital and also because of the lack of medical knowledge about unusual cases. In some instances this has led to the death of patients.
Internet Reliability
The hospital subscribes to an online medical expert system for use by its professional staff. However, a number of doctors have started to use the Internet search engines in order to diagnose patients, which has raised some concerns.
Lack of Training
Most medical staff lack appropriate training on the existing IT systems.
Connection Issues
There are problems with connections between the IT systems in the hospital and the outlying villages.
Issues like local terrain will pose potential problems to establishing connections from one clinic to another. Potential problems like
Lack of Technical Support
The hospital has a network administrator whereas the healthcare workers are responsible for the upkeep of the IT systems in Village A and Village B.
Data Redundancy
Some medical records, such as patient histories, x-rays and pathology results are on paper and are therefore not accessible through the IT system. Others are in separate databases. There is no integrated electronic medical record (EMR) management system at present.
Disaster Recovery
In 2007, there was a significant loss of data when the system crashed due to a power surge. An effective disaster recovery and backup plan was not in place and has still not been implemented.
Other Challenges
Unreliable Power Supply
In Africa, power supply may not be guaranteed. It could be unavailable in certain times meaning that there would be problems running equipment and accessing information. Lack of power could result in failure of treatment or loss of lives (due to life sustaining technology not working).
Challenges Faced
Table of Contents
From Case Study
Complexity of Illness
Transportation Delays
Internet Reliability
Lack of Training
Connection Issues
Issues like local terrain will pose potential problems to establishing connections from one clinic to another. Potential problems like
Lack of Technical Support
Data Redundancy
Disaster Recovery
Other Challenges
Unreliable Power Supply
In Africa, power supply may not be guaranteed. It could be unavailable in certain times meaning that there would be problems running equipment and accessing information. Lack of power could result in failure of treatment or loss of lives (due to life sustaining technology not working).See also: Solutions